Tag: Lesley-Ann Brandt

Lucifer (Season 5, Part 2): God is in the Details… and the Kitchen – Netflix Review

Lucifer finally brings the big man himself into the show and builds up to a… not finale.

SUMMARY (Spoilers for Seasons 1-5, pt. 1)

In the beginning, God (Dennis Haysbert) cast the devil, Lucifer (Tom Ellis), into Hell, where he remained until he got bored and left with his demon confidante Mazikeen (Lesley-Ann Brandt) to open a nightclub in LA. Then, he got bored of that and decided to be a police consultant with the LAPD, partnered with Detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German). Eventually, Chloe, who falls for Lucifer, learns that Lucifer is, in fact, the devil, as does her ex-husband Dan (Kevin Alejandro), and even Lucifer’s therapist, Dr. Linda Martin (Rachael Harris), who ends up bearing the child of Lucifer’s brother Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside). The only one who doesn’t seem to be in on it is CSI Ella Lopez (Aimee Garcia). After having to return to Hell for a bit, Lucifer finds out that he’s been replaced by his brother Michael (Also Tom Ellis), and that leads to a lot of confusion and trouble until God himself steps in. It turns out that God’s thinking of letting someone else take the reins of the universe, and it may be time that the devil considers taking on a new role.

Angel, Devil, Human. Maze is late, as demons often are.

END SUMMARY

I honestly didn’t care that much for this show at the beginning, but I will be damned if it didn’t grow on me. A big part of that is that Tom Ellis, who is supposed to be playing a character that is supernaturally charming, is actually almost supernaturally charming. One of the nicest elements is that he plays piano covers of songs that fit thematically with the episodes, including a great cover of Radiohead’s “Creep,” a sentence I would not have previously thought could be typed sincerely. Ellis plays the devil not exactly as Neil Gaiman described him, but with enough elements that you can see the commonality. He tortures himself as often as he tortures others and hates the fact that he can’t seem to stop doing it. It makes for a surprisingly relatable protagonist for being the devil. 

D.B. Woodside and Kevin Alejandro are also amazing.

One of the biggest elements is that Lucifer is broken because he feels like his father, God, rejected him and cast him down into Hell. While God’s presence has, presumably, been omnipresent in the show, bringing him physically into the show finally gives Lucifer, and the characters that love him, a chance to try and talk to him about his failings as a father. God naturally can’t quite grasp what the issues are, since, being the creator of all things, God kind of thinks everyone should owe him for existence and should probably be thankful. Dennis Haysbert is a great casting choice because he has a figuratively divine voice and a stoic countenance that seems like the kind of person that’s seen everything. Watching him try his best to finally be a “normal” parent is amusing, to say the least. 

Morgan Freeman already had his shot.

The show continues its episodic nature by still having Lucifer and Chloe work as detectives, but it does step up much of the overarching narratives in this season, presumably in an attempt to wrap everything up. It’s fairly obvious that this was supposed to be the last season, and was even announced as such, before Covid-19 weirdly resulted in them getting another partial season. It really seems like they have to make a fairly hard left turn in the finale to NOT finish all of the plotlines. Despite that, it does end on a solid cliffhanger and it leaves them a bit of room to work with another season. 

Like, is Maze going to figure out a more ergonomic outfit?

Overall, I am happy with this season and I really can’t wait for the last one.

Lucifer (Season 5: Part 1): It’s Heaven-Sent – Netflix Review

The Devil is coming back from Hell for another good time.

SUMMARY

After he was forced to go to Hell at the end of the last season in order to regain his throne and quell a demon uprising, Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) is feeling the eternal torment. It turns out that even though only a few months have passed on Earth, thousands of years have passed in Hell. However, after he sees a familiar face in the underworld, he finds out that Chloe Decker (Lauren German) might be in trouble. Moreover, he soon discovers that his identical twin brother Michael is impersonating him on Earth. Lucifer returns in order to try and stop Michael with the help of the other regulars: His brother Amenadiel (D. B. Woodside), the demon bounty hunter Mazikeen (Lesley-Ann Brandt), Det. Dan Espinoza (Kevin Alejandro), Dr. Linda Martin (Rachael Harris), and Ella Lopez (Aimee Garcia). 

They’re the new hot couple on TV.

END SUMMARY

Sometimes I think someone really did sell their soul to make this show successful. This series invokes trope after trope constantly, including some very tired ones (introducing an unmentioned identical twin character, for example), but I still enjoy it thoroughly. We’ve had the relationship between Chloe and Lucifer going on since the beginning of the show, but every time it seems like it might go somewhere, something intervenes and resets the status quo for a bit. At the end of the last season the show was on Fox, Season 3, when the pair finally seemed poised to get together, Chloe finally witnessed Lucifer in his true form and bolted. She spent most of Season 4 getting over it and so, naturally, at the end of the season Lucifer had to leave. Given that I routinely get the same feelings of perpetual return to the mean from Eric Kripke’s other show, Supernatural, I’m guessing that’s just what he considers the best way to keep a show going for a long time. Since Supernatural has 320 episodes, he’s probably got a point. However, this season was originally supposed to be the end of the show, so, surprisingly, some stuff actually starts to move the status quo forward. After Covid-19 stalled the production the show got renewed for another season, so I don’t know if the show will undo that in the second half, but I hope not. 

They even do the show within a show trope and I love it.

A big part of why the show works is that it properly maintains the balance between the episodic mysteries that Lucifer and Chloe encounter as part of the LAPD and the overall story arcs. For example, last season, a big arc was the birth of baby Charlie, Amenadiel and Linda’s baby, and this season deals with their parenting a lot, usually by just having them caring for the infant while talking to the others. It allows all of the plots to move forward together, or at least to not feel like they’ve been dropped. 

They also do a great job with experimental episodes.

Tom Ellis does double duty in this season as both Michael and Lucifer, and you can tell the difference in the characters by more than just his accent (Michael has an American accent for some reason). Michael, despite being God’s literal right hand in most Biblical dogma, is the more duplicitous of the two and also the less confident. Even when he’s attempting to be Lucifer, he constantly seems a bit more on edge. I think it might be a reflection of the idea that someone who always tells the truth never has to worry about what to say next. Brandt does a good job of portraying Mazikeen as still heartbroken after getting rejected by Eve in the last season. The character is trying to deal with some very relatable issues, even though she is supposed to be a literal soulless demon. 

The evil twin of the devil is a weird statement.

Overall, solid addition to the show, albeit a bit short since it’s only half of a season. Can’t wait for the finale.

If you want to check out some more by the Joker on the Sofa, check out the 100 Greatest TV Episodes of All Time, Collection of TV Episodes, Collection of Movie Reviews, or the Joker on the Sofa Reviews.

If you enjoy these, please, like, share, tell your friends, like the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/JokerOnTheSofa/), follow on Twitter @JokerOnTheSofa, and just generally give me a little bump. I’m not getting paid, but I like to get feedback.

Netflix Review – Lucifer Seasons 1-3: A Devil for the Sympathy

Once Upon A Time the Devil took a vacation.

SUMMARY

Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) is your typical Los Angeles nightclub owner, except inasmuch as he is the Biblical Devil, an angel cast out of heaven who previously reigned over the damned in Hell. He’s typically assisted by the demon Mazikeen (Lesley-Ann Brandt) and opposed by his brother Amenadiel (D.B. Woodside), who wants him to retake his position in Hell. One evening, a pop star whom he was attempting to help is gunned down in front of him. The investigating detective, Chloe Decker (Lauren German), surprises Lucifer by proving immune to his powers, intriguing him. He decides to become a civilian consultant to the LAPD in order to find out more about her and also to entertain himself.

Lucifer - 1Devil.jpg
I’m straight, but this is truth in advertising.

Along the way he picks up a therapist named Dr. Linda Martin (Rachael Harris), a semi-rival in Decker’s ex husband Dan Espinoza (Kevin Alejandro), an unwanted mini-acolyte in Decker’s daughter Trixie (Scarlett Estevez), and an unlikely friend ally in the devout Catholic LAPD forensic scientist Ella Lopez (Aimee Garcia).

lucifer - 2cast
Yeah, this is definitely a good looking cast.

END SUMMARY

The key to this show is the cast. The premise, while not boring, would get a little repetitive if everyone in it wasn’t just so damned charming, particularly Tom Ellis. Of course, his character is supposed to be superhumanly attractive and alluring, but it’s impressive how well he sells that. This version of the Devil is interesting because it’s a Devil who has just become bored with his role. It’s not quite the Lucifer of Paradise Lost, though it’s clear to see that Neil Gaiman drew a great deal of inspiration from Milton in creating this version of Satan. It’s that version several millennia down the line, realizing that reigning in Hell, while better than serving in Heaven, is still not that fulfilling. Also, I like that the show kept the comic version’s policy of never lying, since it both makes for hilarious scenes and also distinguishes him from the typical “Lord of Lies” image of Satan. The show never portrays Lucifer as outright evil in any way, he just has a different view of morality than most people.

Lucifer - 3Sandman.jpg
Ellis doesn’t resemble Bowie like comic Lucifer does, but… eh, see the first picture.

The rest of the cast is amazing and they all play off of each other perfectly. Some of my favorite episodes are when two of the characters that usually aren’t together are paired for a B-plot. It helps that the show does actually have the characters change over time as they interact with each other, something that they kind of needed after the relatively strict limitations they held during the first season.

The show’s sense of humor is one of the best features. Unlike most Urban Fantasies, the main character does not attempt to hide his supernatural existence at all, leading to amusing misunderstandings. Lucifer tells everyone he’s the Devil up front, but they all seem to think he’s talking metaphorically or that he’s just coping with some sort of past trauma. Granted, it turns out as the show goes on that Lucifer actually does consider his past to be a trauma, with his relationship with his father being integral to the character. It’s interesting to watch characters dissect the actions of a literally omnipotent and presumably omnibenevolent God (Neil Gaiman) from the perspective of the Devil, who is our sympathetic focal character. Most shows wouldn’t try this kind of thing and I’m happy the show plays it out.

Lucifer - 4ParadiseLost.jpg
I mean, most people can’t make Satan likable, right Milton?

As the series goes on, the expansion of the mythology also helps keep it interesting, with Seasons 2 and 3 each having an added character that pretty much makes for the focus of the season’s arc.

Overall, I’m excited for the fourth and final season of the show, which was pretty much accomplished solely through the fan dedication to the series. I applaud Netflix for allowing shows to get their closure for the people that love them. If only they’d been around for that one series that had the spaceships…

If you want to check out some more by the Joker on the Sofa, check out the 100 Greatest TV Episodes of All Time, Collection of TV Episodes, Collection of Movie Reviews, or the Joker on the Sofa Reviews.

If you enjoy these, please, like, share, tell your friends, like the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/JokerOnTheSofa/), follow on Twitter @JokerOnTheSofa, and just generally give me a little bump. I’m not getting paid, but I like to get feedback.